As a parent, you have the right to maintain a personal relationship and direct contact with your child. At the same time your child has the right to contact both of his/her parents, too. Your parental access rights are protected by the human right to family life.
Contact & Information about a child
There may be several reasons why you may be separated from your child. It may be your choice to live separately, or a situation brought about by the decision of a state institution, such as placing your child into public care or a criminal conviction resulting in a prison sentence. However, as a parent you have a right and obligation to maintain personal relations and direct contact with your child. At the same time, your child enjoys the right to maintain direct contact with both parents. Access rights are protected by the human right to family life.
The parent who does not live with the child has the right to receive information about him/her, especially information regarding the child’s development, health, educational progress, interests and domestic circumstances.
important Your parental access rights are not terminated by the taking of a child into out-of-family care. In such a case, the legal guardian, foster family or child care institution should facilitate the communication between you and your child.
Determination of access
If a child is living together with one parent, both parents may mutually agree on the exercise of access rights by the other parent. This agreement should include the time (length and frequency), place and duration of meetings. If both parents cannot reach an agreement, this may be determined by a court of general jurisdiction (civil court).
If a child is separated from a family (taken out of a family), the exercise of parental access rights may be determined by the civil court.
Restrictions & Termination of access rights
Civil court may apply restrictions on the exercise of access rights, including a total prohibition of access, if:
- both parents cannot agree on the exercise of access
- the child has been taken out of the family
A civil court may restrict your access rights, if such a decision is taken to protect the child’s interests. The civil court may decide on the time (length and frequency), place and duration of meetings. If necessary, the court may order that meetings with the child can only take place in the presence of a specific person (access person).
important The civil court may take a decision to fully deprive you of your parental access for a limited time, if such contact would harm the child’s interests and a denial of access is the only measure to avoid it.
A civil court may restrict your access rights if such contact would harm the child’s health, development and safety. Access may also be restricted if contact with the child would threaten his/her legal guardian, foster family, employees of the child care institution or other children.
important Your parental access rights will also be irrevocably terminated from the moment your child is adopted by another person.
Change of circumstances
You may request a civil court to reassess the situation and cancel restrictions on your parental access rights if the circumstances which were at the basis of these restrictions have changed.
Length of the decision-making & Enforcement process
The obligation to respect your right to family life requires that any issues regarding parental access should be determined as soon as possible. Proceedings should not be unnecessarily delayed by state institutions.
If you have been granted access rights to a child, it is in your interests that this decision be enforced as soon as possible. A delayed enforcement procedure may violate your right to family life.
If the other parent does not obey the decision regarding your parental access rights, effective sanctions may be requested to be taken out against him/her to ensure the exercise of your rights. Read more about sanctions and the enforcement procedure in the Civil Procedure Code.
What human rights violation may there be?
Unlawful restrictions of your parental access rights may violate your right to family life. If you have not been involved in the decision-making procedure regarding these rights, your right to a fair hearing may also have been violated.
Read more about whether your access rights have been lawfully restricted by the civil court.
Read more about how to complain in order to protect your rights.